ngularly strange
and wild. The Bay then washed what is now the east side of Montgomery
street, between Jackson and Sacramento streets; and the sides of
the hills sloping back from the water were covered with buildings of
various kinds, some just begun, a few completed,--all, however, of
the rudest sort, the greater number being merely canvas sheds. The
locality then called Happy Valley, where Mission and Howard streets
now are, between Market and Folsom streets, was occupied in a similar
way. The streets were filled with people, it seemed to me, from every
nation under Heaven, all wearing their peculiar costumes. The majority
of them were from the States; and each State had furnished specimens
of every type within its borders. Every country of Europe had its
representatives; and wanderers without a country were there in
great numbers. There were also Chilians, Sonorians, Kanakas from the
Sandwich Islands, and Chinese from Canton and Hong Kong. All seemed,
in hurrying to and fro, to be busily occupied and in a